About

I just love to spring out of bed in the morning and take on the day with a can do attitude and a list to tick. But, that rarely happens.
With a small ranch/farm, life as we planned is a fool's folly...and we mostly take on the day with hopes of completing a list, but the truth that life will happen as it happens.
We have 60 acres, some flat, some hilly, but mostly packed with beautiful oaks and beautiful vistas. We keep chickens {for laying and meat}, sheep, dairy goats, ducks and geese, a garden and an orchard. Oh...and lots of dogs.As for me...
I came to cooking at a very early age. I am Italian on both fronts and grew up with big family dinners and gabbing until midnight. Coffee and cake were code for come early and stay late. My earliest family memories are food related; rolling out pasta, frying struffoli, simmering pots of cacciatore, at the hip of my "parenti".
Cooking has always been a part of me. I had a successful career in banking, and then I made a switch...to baking.
I say..."I dropped an N and gained a life"
I went to culinary school for baking and patisserie and began to explore the sweet side of the kitchen.
Being so interested in food, and great flavor, only made our (my husband Mike and I) desire to grow and produce our own food stronger. So, a few years ago, we bought our little ranch and began this journey.
Pasture to plate is our motto.
Living in a small farming/ranching community on the central coast of California, is a bit of a change for this city girl, but I love it.
That is not to say that I have squelched my wanderlust...because i haven't. It has curbed a bit, although you may see the occasional (or maybe frequent) postings from the road.

I'm Christy and this blog is my journal of the happenings; in the kitchen, in the dairy, on the ranch, on the road, in the garden, and in our home. I welcome you to spend a bit of time with me, as we learn and share.

All posts filed under: pasta, noodles & rice

Pici pasta is a favorite of mine. When I see it on a menu, I order it. Pici is in a class of its own. It is fresh and chewy, and incredibly slurpable. Truth be told, I use this dough for my cavatelli as well, because of the chew factor. When I was a kid, my grandparents would arrive on the day summer vacation began, and stay until labor day. Some kids would come back […]

I have been making homemade pasta for as long as I can remember. Growing up, as summer arrived, so would my grandparents. Both sets. Heavily ladened with luggage and lessons, my grandparents were old school Italians. The “grandpops” sat on the sun porch playing cards and tending to the vegetable garden planted each year. The “grans” would sit at the kitchen table compiling lists of what would be needed for the evening supper. Pasta was […]